D-Glucose is absorbed across the proximal tubule of the kidney by two Na ؉ /glucose cotransporters (SGLT1 and SGLT2). The low affinity SGLT2 is expressed in the S1 and S2 segments, has a Na ؉ :glucose coupling ratio of 1, a K 0.5 for sugar of ϳ2 mM, and a K 0.5 for Na ؉ of ϳ1 mM. The high affinity SGLT1, found in the S3 segment, has a coupling ratio of 2, and K 0.5 for sugar and Na ؉ of ϳ0.2 and 5 mM, respectively. We have constructed a chimeric protein consisting of amino acids 1-380 of porcine SGLT2 and amino acids 381-662 of porcine SGLT1. The chimera was expressed in Xenopus oocytes, and steadystate kinetics were characterized by a two-electrode voltage-clamp. The K 0.5 for ␣-methyl-D-glucopyranoside (0.2 mM) was similar to that for SGLT1, and like SGLT1 the chimera transported D-galactose and 3-O-methylglucose. In contrast, SGLT2 transports poorly D-galactose and excludes 3-O-methylglucose. The apparent K 0.5 Na was 3.5 mM (at ؊150 mV), and the Hill coefficient ranged between 0.8 and 1.5. We conclude that recognition/transport of organic substrate is mediated by interactions distal to amino acid 380, while cation binding is determined by interactions arising from the amino-and carboxyl-terminal halves of the transporters. Surprisingly, the chimera transported ␣-phenyl derivatives of D-glucose as well as the inhibitors of sugar transport: phlorizin, deoxyphlorizin, and -D-glucopyranosylphenyl isothiocyanate are transported with high affinity (K 0.5 for phlorizin was 5 M). Thus, the pocket for organic substrate binding is increased from 10 ؋ 5 ؋ 5 (Å) for SGLT1 to 11 ؋ 18 ؋ 5 (Å) for the chimera.Reabsorption of D-glucose from the glomerular filtrate along the proximal tubules of the kidney occurs by two apparently distinct cotransport systems (1-3). In the S1 and S2 segments of the renal convoluted tubule, reabsorption is mediated to 90% by a low affinity Na ϩ /glucose cotransporter (SGLT2) 1 with an apparent K 0.5 for sugar of 6 mM and a Na ϩ :glucose coupling ratio of 1. The reabsorption process is completed in the S3 segment by another Na ϩ /glucose cotransporter (SGLT1) with significantly higher apparent affinity for sugar (K 0.5 ϳ0.35 mM) than SGLT2 and a Na ϩ /glucose coupling ratio of 2.The pig renal cell line LLC-PK1 (4) has often been used as a model system to study glucose transport in kidney proximal epithelia. LLC-PK1 cells express Na ϩ /glucose transport activity (apparent K 0.5 D-GLC ϳ0.28 mM; Refs. 5 and 6) located at the apical surface (7). The presence of SGLT1 (2:1 Na ϩ /glucose stoichiometry) in these cells was shown by Misfeldt and Sanders (8) and Moran et al. (9). In 1990, Ohta et al. (10) isolated a SGLT1 cDNA clone (pSGLT1) from LLC-PK1 cells, with 84% and 87% identity to the high affinity rabbit and human SGLT1. There are three electrophysiologically characterized isoforms of the high affinity Na ϩ -dependent glucose transporter, the rat, human, and rabbit SGLT1s (11-16). All three isoforms show an apparent K 0.5 ␣MDG between 0.17 and 0.49 mM, an apparent K 0.5 Na of 2-7 mM, and a Hil...